crime

Man jailed for life over Kashiwa stabbing rampage loses appeal

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The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down an appeal by a 26-year-old man jailed for life over a stabbing rampage that left one man dead and three others wounded in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in March 2014.

The court upheld the original verdict handed down by a panel of professional and lay judges at the Chiba District Court, that found Seiju Takei guilty of fatally stabbing Hiroya Ikema, 31, on the street about 20 meters from the apartment building where both men lived, on March 3, 2014, Fuji TV reported.

The stabbing spree started at around 11:35 p.m. on a 50-meter-long poorly-lit street in Akebono, Kashiwa. In the first attack, a man on his bike was slashed. Ikema was the second victim. In the third incident, the assailant accosted another man walking along the street and demanded money before cutting him on the hand. In the fourth incident, a driver stopped his car when he saw the stabbing victim lying on the ground, and was attacked. The suspect stole the car which was found three hours later in the parking area of a convenience store about 1.5 kilometers away.

Takei admitted he was responsible for all four attacks, but his lawyer said he was suffering from schizophrenia at the time.

Surveillance camera footage showed the driver getting out and walking away and police were able to identify Takei from the footage. When police went to Takei's apartment, he said to them, "Checkmate."

Prosecutors said police found a blood-stained knife in Takei's apartment. They also said that DNA on blood on Takei's clothing matched that of Ikema.

Takei, who was unemployed, told police that he needed money and that he was dissatisfied with society. He also said he wanted to fly a plane into Tokyo Skytree as a means of striking back against society.

Regarding the knife attacks, Takei said he chose his victims at random. He said that after he attacked the man on the bike, he got worked up into a frenzy. After the fourth attack, he drove the stolen car aimlessly and took a taxi back home after leaving it at the convenience store parking lot.

In a bizarre performance, before his arrest, Takei spoke with reporters the day after the rampage, saying that he had witnessed Ikema being stabbed. He said he had heard raised voices and when he looked out his window, he saw the one man stabbing another man on the ground and that the assailant was smiling. He also told reporters that he had filmed the scene with his smartphone but police had told him not to show the video to media. However, police said they saw no such video.

A psychologist interviewed by NHK said that Takei probably talked to reporters because he wanted to feel important and be the center of attention, possibly for the first time in his life.

The trial lasted two weeks.

© Japan Today

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4 Comments
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But that crazy b@st@rd who killed all those old people needs to be strung up.

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his lawyer said he was suffering from schizophrenia at the time. When police went to Takei’s apartment, he said to them, “Checkmate.” He also said he wanted to fly a plane into Tokyo Skytree as a means of striking back against society.

He's a quack. either way, he either needs to remain in jail or an insane asylum for the rest of his life. He took a life. So that is exactly what he should get

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Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

In this case, a lifetime.

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